Darcy called Fitz a week later. Despite being good friends, it was rather unusual on his part.
"I need a favor," Darcy said.
"And I would normally say 'anything' but your tone of voice makes me nervous."
"It's... complicated. And personal."
"Wild guess: something to do with Elena?"
"Did Gigi say something?"
"Not exactly. But her urgent need to talk after the concert lasted about five minutes. It wasn't too hard to realize I'd been extracted."
Darcy cringed with embarrassment. He hadn't asked Gigi to get Fitz out of the way. He'd only asked whether she would mind taking the limo so he could drive Elena home. Gigi decided on her own to remove Fitz from the picture. That alone was embarrassing, that she'd assumed Elena would never accept a ride from him if Fitz were there.
Clearly, Gigi had been correct. That was also humiliating.
And now Fitz thought Darcy had tried to cut him out.
"I was an idiot, alright?" Darcy said. "That part was Gigi's idea, but... Look, I recently shared Wick's story with Elena. It's a lot to process and she doesn't want to talk to me. Then my mom met Elena. Insulted her pretty thoroughly. I was hoping you might find out if Elena needs a... sounding board."
"Wait. Why did you share any of that mess with her? I know you're not good at small talk, but yikes, man."
"I wasn't making small talk. Elena's friends with Wick. He met her when he followed Gigi to Spear Lake."
Fitz said a bad word.
"Yeah. I wanted her to know the truth about him. If he still has contacts in the trafficking world, she needs to be aware."
"I get it. But even on a short acquaintance, I know she's not the type to get sucked into that."
"True, but..." Darcy almost explained that her parents were undocumented. He knew that young undocumented immigrants were at higher risk for exploitation, and also the children of undocumented immigrants. There would be danger in going to the police to report anything.
Darcy couldn't tell Fitz that. It wasn't his family to expose. "I just wanted her to know. I'm pretty sure he was with her at the rally where she got tear-gassed. I don't want her thinking she can depend on him."
"So what do you want me to do? I don't have her number. I probably would have, if certain people hadn't interfered."
Darcy felt a surge of jealousy. Would Fitz have had her number by the end of the night? If he had asked to drive Elena home, would she have happily said yes? Could he handle it if they started dating after his interference?
The answer was no, shouted by his mind and his body.
But Darcy was stronger than that. He felt that he owed Elena. He'd treated her like an extension of his own thoughts rather than her own person. And now he'd destroyed her friendship with Wick. He was glad about that part, but maybe he could make up for the loss of that friend by offering her one much better.
"Are you still there?" Fitz asked.
"Yeah, sorry. You could see Elena the next time she trains Gigi. I just want to make sure she's...okay."
Fitz was quiet for a long while.
"Alright," he said finally. "See you around."
#
When Elena saw the receptionist tracking her down again, after one of her sessions at the gym, she was incredulous. Surly Darcy was satisfied. He'd explained himself, humiliated her for trusting Wick, and sat there while his mom insulted her. What else could he possibly have to say?
The receptionist smiled. "I don't know what you have going on, but I want in. There's another guy out front. Kinda short, funny. And cute."
"Fitz," Elena said. She greeted him out front, happy but wary. "How did I earn a break in your busy schedule? Are you going to make me a star?"
"There are much more unlikely possibilities," he said lightly. "I was wondering if you had time for coffee or lunch, and since you told me where you work... I swung by."
"Sure thing. I have a half hour break now. You wanna go across the street?"
The traffic was light, so they dashed across the street instead of going all the way down to the crosswalk.
"Darcy would not be okay with this at all," Fitz laughed.
Elena raised one eyebrow. "Do we care?"
Fitz looked embarrassed. "No. He just came to mind."
Elena sighed. "You didn't just come to see me, did you? Darcy told you to come?"
"Sort of."
Elena rubbed her dazzled eyes as they entered the relative dark of the coffee shop. "That man is unbelievable. He seriously can't leave well enough alone."
"For what it's worth, he's only like that with people he cares about."
"That makes it better?"
"Let's grab some food."
"You're deflecting."
"I'm hungry," Fitz retorted.
When they sat together near a window, Elena propped her chin in her hand, and lifted her sandwhich. "If you're going to tell me Wick is scum, I already got the message."
"Great."
"That's it? Darcy didn't give you any more messages?"
Fitz eyed her while he finished a bite. "I may have little pride left, but I'm not passing notes like a thirteen-year-old. Darcy mentioned he'd told you all about Gigi, so I thought I'd debrief you, as one of her official "support staff." He used air quotes with a smile.
"Sorry. I'm a little defensive."
"No worries. Darcy brings that out in everyone."
"I do appreciate you coming by, but I don't have much to say. Of course I feel awful for Gigi and about what happened, but that doesn't change anything."
"Then I have another question for you. I admit, it didn't occur to me until this moment, but now I think I'm a genius. You know Giana has a tour this summer? I want you to go with her."
"What?"
"Technically she needs an assistant, but really I'm scared of her being out there alone without a close girl friend. The schedule can be punishing and all she has to do is pick up a phone and ask for a pill. I know I'm totally playing a manipulative, help the addict card, but I think you would be perfect."
"I—you're not playing a card at all. That's a totally legit worry and you're trying to take care of her. Only… I'm sorry, but I already used vacation to help my parents in May. Is it very long?" Elena didn't know much about tours, but she'd heard Adele would be on the move for months.
"Three weeks," Fitz said. "It's not so long."
It was long to anyone with a normal job, but Elena didn't want to make him feel bad.
"I just… I can't afford to lose my job," Elena said. "It's not just the money. I need the experience to put on my resume when I graduate."
"If you could do this and have the job when you came back, you wouldn't mind coming?"
"No, of course not. I love hanging out with her." But would Darcy be there? "I'm not sure her mom, or… or Darcy would want me there."
"Darcy will be back in D.C. the whole time. And her mom…well, she doesn't decide who Gigi hire. She might be a pain, but if you think you could bear her company, that would be amazing. I know it's a lot to ask."
"But are you sure Gigi would even want me to come? Doesn't she have any close friends?"
"Yes… and no. She had several good friends who started college last year. She felt rather left behind, I think. The friends she made during her time with Wick… were not great."
"Oh. I'm just not sure my boss would go for another absence…"
Fitz shook his head. "What's your boss's name and how can I get in touch with them?"
"Wait—you haven't even checked with Gigi!"
"I will, but if you're okay with it, I'll call after that. You'd be surprised how much people enjoy helping celebrities. I'll get her on the phone if I need to."
Elena felt a bit blindsided. This was not how she'd expected the conversation to go. Rather than losing touch, it looked like she might be woven more tightly into Gigi's strange life. And the Darcy family's as well. Life was so weird.